Huh? Let me explain.
My husband and I put our house on the market in early January of this year. It sold in early March. That was great! But ... we didn't have another house waiting on us. So, we moved all of our belongings into storage at my aunt's house and we moved ourselves into my mom's house! Nothing like "going back home" at age 34! But what a blessing it was to have a roof over our heads and love abounding.
Two months after moving in with my mom we were able to purchase my husband's great-grandmother's house. Again - what a blessing! The house was very well built in 1931 ... but ... it needed some repairs and, eh hem, updates. So, the process of remodeling began. Dare I leave out the blessing of having a talented husband who works in this line of construction business. He can do just about anything. I mean, how many women out there say to their husbands, "Honey I trust you to make it look good and do it right. You can pick out the colors in the kitchen." I hope you were sitting down for that one. If you are picking any part of you off the floor now, I apologize for not giving any prior warning.
The timeline continues.
Four months after remodeling begins, we are ready to move out of my mom's house and into our house. It's mostly finished ... mostly. There are a few things in each room that need to be completed, but it's not really anything that keeps us from living.
But I keep feeling out of place. Actually, I've felt sort of out of place for 6 months now. Most of my "stuff" has been stored away. Many of my clothes and shoes, my books, my dishes and cooking supplies, my .... well, most everything. At my mom's house our space was limited and with 3 kids in the house along with 3 adults we made do with the personal belongings we had to have. Now that I've moved into the house I will call home, I'm trying to find a place for everything ... but I can't find everything I thought I had. Where did those finger nail clippers go? And where is my hair dryer? (Thanks mom for letting me borrow your travel one!) And didn't I have a can opener? Or did we get rid of that before we moved? And what is this? I don't remember that at all! Where am I going to put those things??? Why can't I find my underwear?!? Honestly, people, I have stuff all over the place! Still in storage, still at my mom's house, somewhere in a box, in a barn under some tarps, I'm not even kidding it's spread out everywhere!
Moving is stressful, y'all.
But God is teaching me, like always. As I was reflecting today on how this house does not yet feel like "home" simply because all the "comforts" are not in place yet, God brought a thought to my mind -- this house is not your home; furthermore, this world is not your home.
You see, I've realized over the last 6 months that I can actually live with a lot less that I ever thought I could. Now don't get me wrong. I enjoy all the things that make this life more comfortable and more pleasant. And I do not think it is wrong to have these things. Many of them can be wonderful blessings from above. However, sometimes my focus gets a little out of whack. I start to think that these things are more important than they really are. Or that they are more necessary than they really are. Or, the trap I've fallen into this week, that the stuff is what will make me happy and comfortable and finally feel at home where I am.
This house is where I live, where I raise my family and where I rest when my body is tired. And I am grateful to have this house. And yes all my "stuff" in the house makes the day to day living easier. But God reminded me this week that my home is with Him. Home is, after all, where the heart is, right? So if my heart is with Him, then with Him is when I will truly be at home. And all this stuff? Well ... maybe I should find a way to ship it to my REAL home, in a proverbial sense. Store up some treasures in heaven, you know? I've lived without some "stuff" for 6 months and I'm doing just fine ... perhaps there is a struggling single mom down the road who needs it more than I do. Perhaps, rather than thinking I need to go out and buy something new to replace what was damaged in moving I could simply live with less and find a use for that money in Christ's kingdom. There are so many ways to send my treasures on ahead of me, where moth and rust will not destroy.
The last 6 months have been quite the roller coaster ride - fast with lots of ups and downs, twists and turns, ins and outs. But God has remained quietly constant in my life, choosing to remind me of where I call home in the midst of trying to find and set up a "house" here on earth. One day, all this here on earth will pass away, but my home in heaven is eternal. I pray that God continues to remind and teach me how to live here, while setting up my real home with Him.
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